Ideas to explore Help children to develop high levels of involvement in activities
Resources A designated area for digging (if outdoor space is scarce, just fill an old tyre with earth), trowels, rakes, spades, sticks and pebbles PLODS Encourage children's efforts and talk about what they are doing.
'Tune in' to their ideas and help them to develop and extend their play, for example by providing wheelbarrows for transporting the earth.
Ideas to explore Drawing lines and circles using gross motor movement
Resources A sloppy mixture of earth and water, paint brushes, brooms
PLODS Allow children to dip their brushes into the muddy mixture and make large-scale marks on brick walls, tarmac or paved areas. Have a big clean-up afterwards by sweeping with the brooms dipped in buckets of water.
Ideas to explore Support children's use of mathematical language
Resources Different-sized flowerpots or buckets, small spades and trowels
PLODS Help children count the number of spadefuls of earth it takes to fill their buckets or pots. Make comparisons between larger and smaller pots.
Model mathematical language such as 'lots', 'more', 'less' and 'how many?'
Ideas to explore Investigate living things to find out more about them
Resources A wormery and information books.
www.insectlore-europe.com/worms.html is a useful site that sells a tabletop wormery and a book, 'Wiggling Worms at Work'.
PLODS Set up a wormery and observe what happens within it. Use factual books to promote discussions.
Ideas to explore Develop awareness of hygiene practices
Resources Warm water, soap, towels
PLODS Discuss the importance of washing hands after playing with earth.
Provide low level hand-washing facilities to enable children to develop independence in their hygiene routines. Suggest that children make picture and word labels to laminate and display near the sinks showing the step-by-step procedures for washing hands.
Ideas to explore Support children to talk about their intentions and describe what they are trying to do
Resources Earth, jugs of water and a selection of materials such as sticks, pebbles, feathers, leaves, flowers and seed heads
PLODS Share the story of Joe's Cafe by Rose Impey (Orchard Picturebooks) and allow children to make mud potions for their very own 'Creepy Crawly Cafe'. Talk about what they will need and help them access equipment and materials.
Series guide
Poor resourcing and planning are the greatest barriers to high-quality outdoor play. In this series, Jan White and Gail Ryder Richardson of Learning Through Landscapes' early years team suggest simple resources that can provide stimuli for cross-curricular learning and give possible lines of development (PLODs). By focusing on resources that are cheap, easily prepared and easy to store, practitioners can then respond quickly to children's interests and events outdoors. More ideas on creating high-quality outdoor spaces are available from LTL Early Years Outdoors, tel: 01962 845 811.
